Here
is your big chance to make a lot of money in the oil business, at
least virtually!

The
game will give you mineral rights and access to an 8-mile-square piece
of property. There is good reason to believe
that somewhere beneath this property is commercial amounts of oil
and gas. You can sample the activities that are conducted by
an independent oil company, and if you are savvy and/or lucky you
will win by "striking oil" or gas before your money runs
out.

You
have inherited $2,000,000 which is your budget. You can visit the library and study the basics
of oil and gas exploration at no cost.All
the other activities you will pay for from your virtual inheritance.

You
can hire a consultant ($10,000 per
visit) who will give you more specific information about techniques
for drilling on your property.

You
should also hire a consultant to prepare an
environmental impact statement before you do field work.

You
can "shoot" seismic lines in
eight mile segments to image the structure of rock layers in the subsurface.
The cost for seismic acquisition and processing is $20,000 per segment.

You
can also hire a consultant to help you decide
where to look - and what to look for - before you drill.

But,
only the drill bit determines if there is oil! So
when you are ready, select a surface location and locate your rig.
Then select the drill tab, and commence drilling. You're crew will
drill in 1000 ft increments. Drilling costs $150,000 per 1,000 feet,
and the rig available to you will reach 8000 ft. If you want to go
deeper, you will have to leave the game and enter the real world!

If
you think that you have commercial amounts of oil or gas, you will
have to do the engineering work to "complete
the well"at
a cost of $400,000 to convert
a borehole into a producing well. If it produces commercial amounts
of oil and gas, you will have to install pumps,
build pipelines and other infrastructure at a cost of $100,000.
In the game, as in real life oil and gas exploration, you will either
have to be smart and lucky or go broke. So plan your strategy to win
- the greatest
chance for success is by using the resources available to you.
Remember: in this game, as in the oil business, knowledge
is the most valuable tool of all.Much of what you what you need to know is free!

So,
here the basic rules:

You
start with $2 million.

Except
to the library (which is always free)money
will be subtracted from your account
each time you take action.

Again, here's what it
costs:

Hire
a consultant: $10,000 per visit

File
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS):
$18,000 per location

Fail to File
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): You
Can't afford it !